A Mutt Discovering her "Je Ne Sais Quoi"

“A mutt is couture-it’s the only one like it in the world, made especially for you.” Isaac Mizrahi

Growing up in the seventies and eighties, my friends frequently discussed the origins of their ancestry. My next-door neighbor and childhood friend always talked about being Italian. It was part of her identity.

So I would hound my parents to put a label on me.

“Mom, what am I?”

“You’re a mutt.”

“No," I'd whine. "Mom, what am I?”

“Jenny, being a mutt isn’t bad. All the best are mutts. Just look at Dusty Dee Dog, here,” she’d say, pointing to our little white and brown mix of a dog. “Who knows what she is? Part poodle? Part cocker spaniel?”

“But I don’t wanna be a mutt, Mommy.”

“Well, you are.”

“Don’t you have any idea where we’re from?”

“Well, there was adoption in Poppy’s family, but I think he’s Welsh. Nanny’s last name was DePoulter, so maybe Italian,” she’d say, ruffling my auburn locks. “And just look at this hair. We’re freckled redheads….so you might have some Irish in there too.”

Already a bit of a Francophile, I’d look up and say with hope, “And French?”

“No, definitely not French.”

Another day, another round of questions. “Dad, what are we?”

“Human?”

“Ha-ha, Daddy….I mean, are we Italian? French? Irish?”

“I don’t know….lots of things, I think."

"Like what?"

"Uh... German. And English.”

Still so unsatisfied, I assumed the simplified identity of half-German and half-Irish whenever anyone asked.

"A lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me." Barack Obama

In tandem with my wanderlust and dreamer reveries, though, I’d often ponder about my ancestors and the distant lands where they lived. The first time I visited Epcot, I wandered from country to country, spending the most time in France listening to the musicality of their language. I read everything I could find from fictional novels set in foreign countries to travel guides and atlases.

"Hybrid vigor is an important concept in the plant world. You get this from combining the different strengths of different strains. It's the same with mutts—if you want a dog with hybrid vigor—get a mutt." Mary Gallagher

Even though my mother’s side leads to dead ends, my paternal side has been researched by my father back to years of three digits using the Ancestry site. Like countless others, I’m a descendant of royalty the likes of the King Henrys, Robert II of Scotland, and many barons, lords, and ladies such as Lady Elizabeth Dame Windsor.

And then of course we had a few laughs at being related to people with funny-sounding names such as Lady Constance Assenhull and Alianore Le Strange.

"Yes, he's got all them different kinds of thoroughbred blood in him, and he's got other kinds you ain't mentioned and that you ain't slick enough to see.” Don Marquis

Alas, little to no French was found. And although I’d wished and hoped for a little bit of exotic spice as well, there appears to be no Moroccan prince, Native American healer, or Indian henna artist in my heritage.

As time and technology advanced, there came the day when we could all spit into a tube and find out the true origins of our bloodlines.

They say blood doesn’t lie. And my DNA revealed all the wonderful places that make me the proud mutt that I am today.

My results are:

Scotland: 54%

England: 15%

Ireland: 14%

Wales: 11%

Norway: 4%

Germany: 2%

It’s fun to ponder the people and places that you stemmed from, but of course the tests are not an exact science.

Additionally, the ancestry companies update their algorithm and add more regions to its reports. So I’m not giving up hope that I might receive a little bit more Je ne sais quoi in the future.

I plan to dedicate a variety of pieces that highlight how these countries were a part of my life, even before I knew they were an intrinsic part of my heritage. My next articles will focus on these six locations with attention paid to my favorite music and foods from each country, in addition to travel spots – both in the past and future of my travels.